A Cursed People
by l-lope estheim
Summary: Things seem normal, the six L'Cie are surviving pulse looking for clues to help remove their brands but what happens when they find a curse of a different kind. Hope x Light, not related to my other FanFic Tingling Feeling.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so I am seriously sorry for taking this long to post something but my computer completely F%&$#ed so I wasn't even able to write anything until a few days ago. *sigh* I had a bunch of ideas but this one stood out for me my obsession with this pair coming through once again. So here we go again, please review and if you have anything you want to see let me know and I'll see if I can fit it in.**

Chapter One: A Night at Camp

A light breeze blew through the canyon slightly rustling the trees and sweeping over the grass on multiple levels whilst an afternoon sun leaked through from above. Multiple creatures roamed the natural halls that had formed, the ever watchful sentinel Lightning sat perched on a rock that gave her a clear view of the entry point to their camp. The position looked odd, like a predator waiting for her target to reveal itself, she realised this but shrugged it off as survival instinct. This was after all pulse a very primitive place, and she thought that with both fear and admiration. Despite the danger it was easier to live here than on Cocoon, on Cocoon you had to worry about peoples plots, money, social requirements, but here all she had to worry about was protecting herself and her friends. It was simple.

As she stood vigilant her mind began to wonder to the problems they had encountered recently, they needed to make another trip to that lagoon to get fresh water, she need to find another smooth rock to sharpen her Gunblade, she had lost the last one when her pouch came loose during a battle with some Gorgonopsids and then there was her idea to have Hope help her with magic in exchange for helping him learn to wield a Gunblade. He had expressed his desire to use one himself back in Gapra Wightwood she just hoped that the desire was still true. She sighed as she thought about it, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get a grasp on these higher level spells, whereas Hope wielded them with such ease and yet such power.

After an hour or two her limbs began to stiffen and she realised that if she stayed much longer she wouldn't be able to kill something if it came through the entrance. She looked at her options, Fang was resting so she could watch the camp that night and she was the one who had relived Snow so the best option was probably Sazh. Vanille would just get distracted and run after some furry creature. She considered asking Hope, it wasn't as if he couldn't keep watch, in fact besides herself he was the most attentive when doing so, but he often gave off looks of exhaustion when he thought none were looking. So she slide off the rock and stretched her aching muscles then proceeded to walk back to the main part of the camp.

When she got there Vanille was talking to the Chocobo next a sleeping Fang, Snow was "working out" by which he meant punching imaginary targets and Hope was examining a curious runestone he had found in one of the old ruins. Her target however was sitting on a log cleaning his pistols, he looked up as she approached, "sup soldier girl, you want me to take watch"?  
"Yeah, thanks",  
"no problem", he said standing up, "send Fang over once sun sets",  
"will do".

After Sazh left she walked over to the supplies picked up her canteen and took a few gulps of water, she then walked over to Hope. "Hey", he said glancing up at her,  
"hey", she replied, "you figure out what that is yet"?  
"According to Vanille it's the symbol of the Kiar clan",  
"you mean like Dia and Yun"? She asked,  
"uh-huh, apparently if I add lines here and here", he said tracing his finger over the smooth stone, "it becomes the symbol for Dia, but Yun has a completely different design".  
"I see", she said nodding.  
"oh-uh", he stammered leaning back over into his own space, "sorry".  
"Huh", she hadn't even noticed him lean in close to show her the runestone. She put down her lack of notice as tiredness and stood to leave, but as she stood Hope moved as well.  
"n-no wait I'm really sorry", he said looking worried.  
It took a moment to puzzle over his overreaction before replying, "Its ok I'm just feeling tired I'm going to lie down".  
"oh-a-ok", he said blushing but looking relieved, "ill-I mean, bye", he ducked his head and ran off.

After finding a spot to rest she sighed inwardly, _great now I feel guilty for letting him freak out, I should have reassured him more and I didn't even get to find out if he still wanted to learn how to wield a Gunblade._ She sat thinking it over for a while before reaching a decision. With her mind settled she stood and walked over to Fang and Vanille who had since fallen asleep. She reached out and shook Fang by the arm, the warrior sat up quickly taking a sharp breath, "what's wrong"? She said,  
"nothing, it's just sunset", she replied pointing up at the stars now visible in the sky.  
"Oh, okay then", she said standing, she stretched out her sleeping limbs a yawned, "see you at dawn". And without another word she walked off towards the entrance.

She looked around the camp, Vanille was asleep at her feet, Snow had dropped to the ground in exhaustion a while ago and had since began snoring, but it was as she looked around that she realised she hadn't seen Hope since he had walked off before. She examined the camp more closely and found him in a small corner. She walked over to him and realised he had fallen asleep. After a few moments deliberation she lay down about a metre away from him and began to drift off to sleep.

After a few more moments she heard footsteps, likely Sazh returning to them. She peeked an eye open just to be sure. Sazh came quietly into her view and took up Fangs position next to Vanille. After that she closed her eyes again and was almost asleep when she heard a sharp intake of breath behind her and a small voice calling out, "Light".  
She sat up and looked over at Hope, the obvious source and found he was still asleep, but as she examined him she saw his eyes moving under their lids by the moonlight, "must be dreaming", she said quietly. She relaxed and lay back down. After a while she was finally able to get to sleep.

**Claimer: lol jks disclaimer**

**Again please review I really like to hear what people think good or bad it helps me improve.**

**I'm in year 12 now so it might take longer to post than it used to but I will still endeavour to bring you this story a quickly as my homework will permit.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so I managed to write this quicker than expected, I hope my homework turns out that way **** anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and please read and review as I always like to get peoples opinion because if I don't then get lonely sitting here while my cat tries to get my attention by walking on the keyboard, lol.**

Chapter Two: Jumping At Shadows

Lightning slowly opened her eyes examining the camp. A small amount of sunlight could be seen in the sky and Chocobo's could be herd kwehing in the distance. It took a moment for her to notice a warm feeling against her back, she sat up and looked around seeing that Hope had shuffled over to her in the middle of the night, "_probably just got cold_", she thought to herself, before standing up and walking closer to the rest of the camp. Snow was still passed out over on some grass and hadn't looked to have moved all night, Sazh was also still sleeping peacefully with the Chocobo nesting in his hair and Vanille looked like she had just woken up, Vanille looked up happily when she approached, "hey Light, good sleep", she said tiredly,  
"yeah, thanks",  
"ok then I'm gunna go get Fang", she said happily to Lightning, who nodded and the girl shot up and skipped off.

After a moment of silence Snow's awakening was announced with a yawn loud enough to wake the dead. Hope shot up thinking it was a monster and collapsed back down once he had identified the source of the noise. Sazh groaned and covered his ears, "you got'a stop doin' that man",  
"sorry", said the offender sitting up cracking his back, "so Lightning we're going to head over to that ruin further east today, huh"?  
"Yeah, we'll set camp there later tonight and if we can't find anything the day after we can move on", she replied, "We can stop to get water on the way".  
"Sweet", he said pulling on his gloves.  
"Yeah", Sazh spoke up still unwilling to open his eyes, "with any luck we'll find some duct tape while we're there", Lightning chuckled at the comment causing Sazh to open his eyes and smirk.  
"and what's that supposed to mean", Snow responded,  
"it means you're as effective as any alarm clock only we can't set a timer on you", Sazh said finally siting up causing a small squeak from the Chocobo,  
"and your one of those alarms that make an annoying noise", said Hope walking over. Lightning chuckled again,  
"hey, you're one to talk sleep mumbler", Snow called back,  
"sleep mumbler"? Said Hope raising an eyebrow,  
"yeah last time I slept near you I woke up to you muttering in your sleep", he said, his smile growing.  
"I didn't… why didn't anybody tell me", he said looking worried,  
Sazh chose to lend a hand, "because it doesn't really bother us, he's just taking the mickey out of you", he said smiling.  
"Still", he said cautiously, "you guys don't remember anything I said, do you"?  
"Sounded like a battle plan last time", said Snow, defeated in his teasing.  
"Oh, ok", he finished looking relieved.

It was then that Fang and Vanille returned to the rest of the group, "you guys ready to leave", said Fang, who looked tired but ready. They all nodded in agreement and began to move towards the entrance. They headed though the winding natural passages encountering small groups of monsters that were quickly dispatched by their ever growing powers. By about mid-morning they arrived at the lagoon that contained fresh water, as they filled their containers Lighting called over, "hey Hope come here for a moment", he looked at her curiously and made his way to where she was,  
"what's up"? He said quietly,  
"well… I need your help", she said,  
"what… y-you need my help"? He said clearly surprised,  
"in exchange for my own help", she said,  
"what's this regarding"? He asked slowly, frowning,  
"you once expressed to me a desire to lean to wield a Gunblade" she said, "is that still correct"?  
"y-yes I've always admired how graceful you look while wielding one", he said, then quickly ducked his head as his face went slightly red,  
"good then If I teach you to do this will you help me… with magic",  
"oh, y-yes of course, if you're having trouble I'll gladly help",  
she smiled at his enthusiasm, "thanks", "_that wasn't so bad_".  
He turned to her smiling widely, "dido",  
"needless to say I don't want Snow to hear of this or he'll never shut up", Hope just laughed

After that they moved on through more pathways until they came to their destination a small ruin of what was probably a medium sized village. As the made their way through the ruin looking for a good building to camp in Snow began glancing around, after a while he finally spoke up, "anyone else feel like we're being watched", he said quietly,  
"getting jumpy hero"? Fang asked,  
"this place is creepy, I'll give it that", Sazh said.  
It was just then that Lightning noticed something move on a rooftop, "what was that", she said pulling her Gunblade out in gun form and aiming were she had noticed the movement.  
After a moment Fang chipped in again, "you guys are just jumping at shadows", she said smirking,  
"Light look out", Hope shouted, she turned to see a man in strange fur clothes running towards her with a spear similar to Fangs in his hand, what struck her as strange was the completely blank look he had on his face, even his eyes seemed empty. He took another few steps before he was hit with a lightning bolt, the man stumbled at the hit and fell to his knees. However he quickly recovered and continued to advance although slower now. Sazh walked in front of them and aimed a pistol at the man,  
"Stop", he said clearly, the man showed no reaction, "don't make me do it", the man continued, Sazh took aim and fired a shot hitting the man in the right shoulder. He stumbled back pausing for a moment then turned to Sazh and continued walking. "Dam", said Sazh, he then took aim again and fired at the man's left knee. The man fell to his knees but merely pushed himself back up and continued limping forward. "What the hell"? Sazh aimed both pistols and shot the man in the chest once each, he fell back now splattered with blood from multiple wounds.

"Are all pulse native warriors trained to withstand that much pain"? Lightning said, aiming the question at Fang.  
Fang shook her head as they approached the body, "he doesn't even look like a warrior, just looks like some guy who picked up a weapon".  
After a few moments trying to examine the body Lightning found something curious, "hey, is that… a L'Cie mark"? She asked pointing to a mark on the natives shoulder.  
"No, at least I don't think so, it looks different to ours see", Fang replied,  
"Could a Fal'Cie make something other than a L'Cie out of a human"? Hope queried,  
"With Fal'Cie there's no telling", said Sazh looking around, "could explain why my rounds didn't hurt him, might not even be able to feel pain, like a Cie'th or something".  
"Why would he attack us any way"? said Lightning, "he must have realised he couldn't beat all of us",  
"could be he was forced to", said Snow, "we all know Fal'Cie don't put much value on human life",  
"we don't even know it's a Fal'Cie we're dealing with", Lightning said, "either way I don't think there's anything else on him", she stood and turned to Fang, "is there any burial rights we should perform for him", she asked,  
"well typically any deceased from Oerba would be cremated and the ashes spread from the highest point", said Fang seriously, "that's if the individual didn't have a preferred place in mind".  
"Hmm… is magic ok"? Lightning asked,  
Fang nodded, "should be",  
"ok then", she said turning to Hope,  
but Vanille must have guessed what she intended to ask, "wait, I'll do it, I think it's better if another person from Pulse does it".  
"ok then, you deal with that, we'll ignore fire spells from over here use thunder if you're in trouble" said Lightning, "in the meantime this house looks good, Fang and Snow you check it out, if it's good both of you should get some rest, you're on watch tonight Snow", they both nodded and moved toward the building she had indicated,  
"I'll look around for a while, I'll meet you guys back here with firewood", said Sazh putting his pistols back in their holsters and walking off.  
"Right, come on Hope", said Lightning moving toward what looked like a courtyard area.

**Ok so before anyone asks no that was not some kind of zombie. However if you want to know what it really is you'll have to follow the story *evil laugh* **

**Disclaimer: although I don't see the point in putting a disclaimer on something I make no profit on whatsoever I will comply with the multimillionaires who are so afraid of losing a few dollars.**


	3. Chapter 3

**wow major writers block on this one, just sat for an hour going "i don't know what the hell to write",**

**also I had a weird encounter with one of my friends recently that had to do with FanFiction.**

**Friend: hey u know how you go on about writing FanFiction?**

**Me: yeah**

**Friend: well I've been writing my own original story.**

**Me: really?**

**Friend: yeah.**

**Me: well I'll have to read it some time.**

**Friend: hell no this is my personal story I'm keeping it to myself.**

**What I thought: **_**well then why the hell are you writing it, if it has personal stuff in it keep it in your head, I don't even know why you would bother bringing it up are you looking for attention or something, wtf.**_

**What I said: oookay then.**

**Yeah so in hindsight he was probably just looking for something we have in common after all in the area we live in good friends are few and far between. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter the name was really half-assed but meh.**

Chapter Three: Training & Treasure

"Okay so this gives us an opportunity to work on our uh… respective… problems", said Lightning somehow not finding the right words to the end of her sentence.  
"Right", replied Hope slowly, "what did you want to start with"?  
"I think magic since I already know a little", she said, "It would be easier to perfect something I already know than start you on the basics of a Gunblade".  
"ok, that makes sense", he stopped and turned to her, "I think first I'd like to take a look at how many spells you can cast in secession then the most powerful spell you can muster, use that statues base over there", he said, pointing to a large square rock off the centre of the area.  
"Ok then", she said strafing away from him and prepared herself as she usually did, she gathered up all her frustration and anger and channelled it into the need for a fire spell. Then she let it out and moved her hand as if to throw something, she smiled as she saw a small fire spell fly through the air and repeated the motion letting her arm flow through to make it easier, "_three, four, five, six, seven, dammit_", on her seventh attempt nothing appeared in her hand and she let them drop to her sides.  
"not bad", Hope said, for some reason that comment annoyed her,  
"well how many can you cast", she asked,  
"hmm, a good point I've never counted, let me try", he said turning to the target. He took a deep breath and then began letting off spell after spell as she tried to keep track,  
"_eleven, twelve, thirteen, four… ah ha ha_", on the fourteenth attempt his spell had appeared but not left his hand and had nearly burnt his glove off, she found it ironic that he had managed to do twice as good as her but still look more foolish.  
"Ok, so, ah… thirteen then", he said looking more than a little embarrassed, "so let's see your strongest spell ". She sighed and repeated the process from before letting her annoyances build up, then threw it all into one swing, a Fira spell flew over and landed on the base exploding larger than her other spells.  
"See my problem", she said with a slight huff, "your spells got more powerful, whereas mine just won't".  
"Well maybe we should practice for a while and then see if there's any improvement", said Hope, with a thoughtful look on his face,  
"ok then, let's get started", she said.

Over the next couple of hours Lightning tried pushing her limits with magic and let out all of her irritation as fire and she noticed a slight improvement, but not nearly as much as she wanted. Hope was tentative with giving her instructions and rarely pushed her, but she acted normally in hopes that he would relax and be more confident. After finishing up yet another combination Hope spoke up again, "ok… so, do you think we should take a break"? He said looking nervous again,  
"well that's up to you", she replied panting ever so slightly,  
"ok then, let's go check on the others", he said.

They walked back to the building Snow and Fang had gone to earlier and checked inside. Sure enough they were both fast asleep snoring on either side of a fire which seemed to had been made between them, the roof of the building had a gaping hole in it to release the smoke and under further inspection it seemed there was a second floor. Sazh sat on the far side of the fire, he looked up as they approached, "and where were you two", he said raising an eyebrow,  
Lightning checked Snow to make sure he was asleep before replying, "training if you must know, why so suspicious"?  
"No reason", he said smirking, "just make sure you leave Hope some energy left, this place is bigger than we thought",  
"how so"? She asked choosing to ignore his mistake about who was being trained.  
"well what looked like a large building constructed against the cliff face was actually a gateway to another part of this place, it looks bigger on the other side but I didn't venture too far yet", he paused to take a breath before continuing, "and before you ask, no I didn't see anyone else".  
Lightning nodded sitting next to Sazh while Hope grabbed a water bottle from the supplies, "where's Vanille"? She asked, Sazh just pointed up to the second floor.  
"So… we just relax for tonight"? Sazh asked, "Scout the rest of this place tomorrow",  
Lightning looked outside to see the orange tint over the world that indicated sunset, "sounds reasonable", she responded.

They were able to relax for about ten minutes before Vanille came bounding down a set of stairs at the far end of the room, a look of pure glee on her face, "you guys have to come quick", she said running up to Fang and shaking her awake, "you have to see this", then proceeding to do the same to Snow. After giving them only ten seconds to get their bearings she stood and ran back to the stairs shouting, "Come on".  
Lightning looked over to Hope to see him just as confused as she was, she shrugged, "alright come on". Both she and Hope stood and walked over to the stairs, with Sazh following and Snow and Fang trailing behind.

Once they reached the top of the stairs they arrived in a short hallway with one door on each side. Vanille popped her head out of the door on the right and beckoned for them to come in. Inside the room were several shelves with a few ruined books and unrecognizable decor. Vanille however jumped immediately on to one of three double beds with a pile of blankets on each. "They're comfy", she squealed as if she found a hidden treasure,  
"yes but there's only three, we'll never decide who gets them", said Lightning skeptically,  
"but they're double beds", she said defensively, "two times three is six, and the door locks as well",  
"you expect us to sleep together"? Said Lightning with a hint of sarcasm,  
"oh come on Light, it's not like we have to cuddle", Vanille said,  
"Unless you want to", Snow mumbled, smirking. Lightning shot him a glare which instantly put him back to quiet tiredness.  
"Come on look, I'll sleep next to Fang, Hope can sleep next Sazh and you can sleep next to Snow" said Vanille pointing out the beds as she spoke.  
"I'd rather sleep on the ground then next to polar bear here", pointing a thumb back at Snow who was too tired to care.  
"alright fine", said Vanille, "Hope can sleep next to you and Snow can sleep next to Sazh",  
"hey now I don't want to sleep next to the alarm clock", Sazh said,  
Snow stepped forward pulled his bandanna down over his mouth, tightened it, tried and failed to say something, then walked forward and lay down on the far side of the centre bed pulling a blanket over himself, exaggerating his feelings being hurt. "Cool", Vanille said as Fang moved toward the far bed ding the same.  
"Hey don't I get a say", Hope said to Vanille,  
"you have problem sleeping next to Light"? Vanille asked,  
"w-well no, not exactly but", he said, his face turning red, "I-it's just… uh, never mind".  
Vanille just went out the door and there was a sound of rushing water as she extinguished the fire then re-entered the room walked back over and lied down next to Fang, Sazh sighed and went to lie down next to Snow, but Hope seemed unwilling to move, he just stared at the floor. _Why it he always got so nervous, _she was thought he would be more comfortable around them by now. So Lightning just walked to the nearest bed grabbed a blanket draped it around herself and lay down. After a whole minute Hope hesitantly walked up and grabbed the other blanket and she felt to mattress shift slightly as he lay down. Lightning rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, she had to admit it was nice to sleep in an actual bed and it wasn't long before she was drifting off to sleep.

**So please review with what you think, any questions or suggestions are appreciated and I hope you enjoy.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow this chapter was tough, major frigging writers block every bloody paragraph, but in the end I'm proud of this chapter, also couldn't think of a chapter name so it's pretty crap, but you don't judge a book by its cover so why would you judge a chapter by its name ;) hope you enjoy this chapter and please review (plz, plz, plz).**

Chapter Four: Too Much For One Soldier

Vivid images flashed through Lightning's mind as she slept, memories and possibilities mixing together in a disturbing slideshow. After a while it stopped and there was darkness she looked around to see that she was not alone her five friends were with her on top of a strange pillar surrounded by darkness. Suddenly Snow clenched his hands over his heart and fell to his knees, "Serah", he whispered before keeling over and falling off the edge. "No", she shouted looking over but he was already gone.  
She heard a strange noise behind her and looked to see that Vanille had become a Cie'th, she soon lost her balance and fell off the edge, Fang jumped after her and they both disappeared into the darkness. "Enough", she heard Sazh say, she turned to face him and say him with a pistol to his head, "is enough".  
BANG!  
Sazh fell into the darkness also. Lightning fell to her knees holding back the tears that threatened to fall. This couldn't be happening. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Hope standing there, "it's ok, I'm here", he said, helping her up.  
"I will take everything from you", Barthandelus voice echoed from the darkness. Lightning looked around to find the source of the voice but saw only darkness.  
She turned back to Hope and her wave of fear shot through her. Hope had one hand over his heart and a pained look on his face, he looked up at her with fear in his eyes and her breath caught in her throat. Lightning reached out to catch him as he fell. "Light", he whispered.  
His expression eased and his eyes began to droop. "No", she said, tears now running down her face.

"NO",  
smack,  
"ow",  
thump,  
click…  
"What the hell is going on", came Fang's irritated voice as she got up and walked around the centre bed to see Hope sprawled on the floor tangled in his blanket.  
He managed to remove the blanket from his head and looked around, tiredness and confusion painted across his face. Snow sat up, untied the bandana from his mouth and said, "what happened".  
"I… uh…", Hope stammered looking around, as clueless as the rest of them, "I don't know… I was just…".  
Sazh sighed, lowering the pistol he'd drawn and said, "I think I know what happened".  
"You do huh", Fang said, "and how's that"?  
"It's kind of obvious", he replied. "Hope, try not to freak out next time you have a nightmare".  
"but I-", Hope began but was cut off as Sazh raised a hand,  
"it's ok we've all had bad dreams about this whole situation before, just try to keep it down next time".  
"That's a nice fatherly speech there Sazh", Fang said smirking, "but I don't think bad dreams leave black eyes", she pointed at Hope's now dark eye. Hope reached a hand up to feel his eye, feeling the area now slightly swollen.  
Sazh frowned and thought for a moment, "Did you hit your head as you fell by accident or something"? Sazh asked.  
"I… guess I… must have", Hope said, clearly sounding unsure.  
"Ok, whatever I'm going out for some fresh air", Fang said moving towards the door then pausing, "hey where'd Lightning run off to".

Beads of sweat ran down her, chilled by the cool morning air, as Lightning sprinted away from the building where she had spent the night. As soon as she realised what she had done she felt guilt at first, but she wasn't about to let everyone know that a cryptic dream had caused her to react in such a way, not seeing any other option she fled the scene. Now she found a nice quiet place she wiped the perspiration from her face and sat crossed legged and took control of her breathing, once she had that under control she cleared her mind of all thoughts and just concentrated on herself and her immediate surroundings. The slow intake and outtake of air, the steady beating of her heart, the light breeze chilling her soft skin and the far off sounds of creatures waking from their slumbers. Once her head was clear she set her emotions aside and examined her situation. First she reviewed her dream. It made sense, she had grown close to the companions she travelled with, they were like one big family and the thought of losing them wasn't pleasant. Her tiered stat could contribute to her lack of control over her emotions causing her to react in ways she usually wouldn't, but that had never been a problem for her before so it was hard to believe it would suddenly start now, she had had many dreams about her parents before but had never reacted this wildly before.

Lightning sat mulling over her situation, she figured it would be best to keep quiet for now, if asked she could just say she went out for a morning walk. She took one final deep breath and stood up, shaking the stiffness from her legs. She began to make her way back to the house.

When she arrived she found Hope in the first room gathering up their supplies, she quietly entered the building without announcing herself and watched him for a moment. She decided to reanalyse her thoughts of him, when he had fallen in her dream she had been particularly affected, but she wasn't sure why. He was a boy of fourteen a little small for his age but forced to mentally mature quickly with the situation and as such was wise beyond his years, his insight and deductive reasoning were both excellent, he was adept at magic and always willing to learn, he was also kind and caring but also practical. He wore army green jeans shorts, a black shirt and an orange and yellow jacket. He had medium length messy silver hair that framed his soft attractive face, _wait, what. _Had she really just thought that? She supposed Hope would be considered attractive but how could she let herself get distracted by something like that, _dammit I'm always in control, why is this happening. _It was beginning to get annoying couldn't she deal with one problem before another arose, she always put forth a cold outer shell but inside her emotional problems sometimes piled up on her. Sometimes they would have to be forgotten and never got solved but she didn't want that to happen with Hope and her new friends, she had gained a liking for the boy and didn't want to go off at him, the only person who had stuck around after she went off at them was Serah, and she supposed Snow but only because he was so stubborn.

It was then that Hope turned and realised her presence, "Oh, Light, I-I didn't see you there", he said nervously, "Uh, everyone else is out looking for you".  
"Really why"? She asked.  
"Well, we wanted to go and check the rest of these ruins but you'd gone somewhere so they went to find you", he said gaining some composure, "they asked me to stay here and get the supplies ready in case you came back".  
"Oh", she said.  
"They should be back soon so we can just wait here", he said.  
"Right". There was silence for a few minutes as Hope gathered the last of the supplies together, then walked over and leaned against the wall near the stairs. Lightning walked over and sat on the stairs and looked at Hope for a moment before speaking.  
"Hope, if you have a problem you do what you can to solve it right"? She said.  
"Yeah", he responded.  
"But what would you do if you had more than one problem"? She asked.  
"Well I guess you try and look at the problems one at a time", he said.  
"But what do you do if the amount of problems becomes too much for you to handle", she said trying to keep the conversation hypothetical.  
"well I guess I would ask for help from one of you guys", he said, "Snow and Fang could help with any physical problems I'm having, Vanille's always good at cheering me up and Sazh and you are always good at giving me advice, but…", he trailed off before regaining his voice, "I'm fine right now, I'm doing ok and I'm not going to weigh you guys down, I swear".  
"It's ok Hope", said Lightning trying to calm the boys anxieties, "you're doing much better than most people would in your situation".  
Hope's face turned a slight shade of red at the compliment, "uh th-thanks Light, that means a lot", he stuttered, "c-coming from you I mean".

They stayed silent for a while before slight boredom began to seep into them. "Shouldn't they be back by now"? Lightning asked.  
Hope looked up at Lightning, then to the doorway and frowned, "now that you mention it, yes… they should". Lightning walked back to the doorway and poked her head outside looking around and seeing no one in the immediate area, she hummed with concern. "You think we should look around for them", Hope said as he approached her.  
"I do, but if they come back and you're not here they'll get worried", she said, turning to face him.  
He hummed and put one elbow in his hand and the other hand on his chin with a thoughtful look. The sight made Lightning want to laugh and a slight smile graced her lips. After a moment he put his hands down and turned to her once again, "could I borrow your Knife for a moment"? He asked.  
"Sure, I guess", she said and reached into the pouch on her jacket and retrieved her birthday gift and handed it to him.  
Hope walked up to the wall by the stairs and started carving something into it. After a moment he stepped back and Lightning read the message engraved there:

_Lightning came back  
you guys were taking a while  
went to look for you  
if you read this stay here  
Hope_

"There, now let's go", he said, handing the knife back to her.

They began walking around to see if anything suspicious was in the area. After about ten minutes Hope began to frown, "what's up"? Lightning asked.  
Hope looked at her at first not catching her meaning, "hmm… oh, it just seems a little quiet to me".  
Lightning smiled at the boy's attentiveness, "I was just thinking the same thing", she said, "Keep your guard up".  
After another moment Lightning raised her hand for Hope to halt. Listening intently she herd slight movement around the corner to her right. Signalling to Hope she approached the corner, drawing her Gunblade. She leaned close to the corner then stepped out aiming for what she was surprised to find was another native. He had long raven coloured hair and had a wild look about him despite having the same unnervingly blank look on his face, he had a long curved dagger in his hand. He was crouched low and showed no reaction to Lightning's presence other than to lift his gaze to her. She took another step from the corner keeping her Gunblade trained on him. "Who are you and…" she tried to say, but a sharp pain in the back of her head cut her short. She fell to one knee her Gunblade slipping from her grasp and clattering to the ground, her vision was swimming and her eyes felt heavy. The last thing she herd before she blacked out was Hope yelling her name.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello once again from l-lope, I've got a nice early one this time, this one was a lot easier to write and my first assignments just went up so I could write this quicker **** thanks once again to ****Think-By-Yourself who's reviews are keeping this fic alive, although I feel like I'm holding this fic for ransom reviews, oh well hope anyone who reads this enjoys.  
Just FYI the first part is in Hope's POV**

Chapter Five: Uncertain

A small circle of carnage surrounded Hope as he rushed over to Lightning's still form, he rolled her on to her back to see her eyes closed. He hesitated before reaching over into her pouch and retrieving her knife, he then unfolded it and brought it to her face, after a moment he pulled it back to check it, _it's fogged, she's breathing._ He replaced the knife in his own pocket and lifted her head to check the back where she had been hit. To his horror he found it bleeding heavily, staining her beautiful pink hair crimson. He placed his hand over the wound and concentrated, he felt the healing spell leave his hand and repeated the process another ten times just to be sure. He lowered his hand, relieved to see the bleeding had stopped and the wound looked a week old, _still she probably won't regain consciousness for a while and we can't stay here, I don't know if any more of those natives are around._ He thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that his only option was to carry her back to the house. He raised his hand again and gathered his magic and released a spell. Water jetted from his hand and rinsed through her hair, he was careful not to get it on her face or uniform. Once the blood was cleaned off he released an Areo spell, then he reached for her hair again, _it feels dry… and soft, like silk._ He blushed and shook his head, now was not the time for that, he needed to get her to safety.

He reached under her and cradled her shoulders in one hand and used the other to lift her knee's he stood up, testing himself, _ok, she's not too heavy, I can do this._ He turned and for the first time noticed the scorched ground on one side and the frozen ground on the other. On one side ice spikes radiated from the centre of the spell while blood trickled toward the centre from the native that had been impaled multiple times by it. On the other side there was a circular scorch mark and a half melted war hammer in the centre. He ignored this and continued towards the house.

He walked through to doorway to find Sazh there, the man was facing away from him and hadn't heard him enter, "hey", he said loudly.  
Sazh turned and concern flashed across his face, "Hope, what happened"? He asked coming to aid Hope in carrying Lightning.  
"We were attacked by two more natives", he responded, as he and Sazh lowered her to the ground.  
Sazh looked surprised, "what, more of them", he asked, "Could they feel pain"?  
"I don't know", Hope said looking slightly ashamed, "they… didn't live long enough for me to find out". Sazh looked surprised again, but brushed it away, "Light took a hit in the back of the head I healed it but she was already unconscious".  
"I see", he said checking the wound, "wait here a minute", Sazh stood and walked over to the staircase disappearing for a moment. He returned carrying a small bundle of blankets, "nothing to do but wait for her to wake up", he said walking back over, "here, put these under her head". Hope lifted Lightning's head and placed the blankets underneath it, then gently lowered her head back onto the blankets. Sazh stood and walked over to the doorway, leaned against the frame and watched outside. Hope remained by Lightning's side sitting next to her with his legs crossed.

After a quarter of an hour Sazh spoke, "here comes Snow".  
Snow entered a moment later, the irritatingly cocky grin on his face. "Hey what's going on, why so serious Sazh", he said then his eyes fell on Lightning and the smile dropped from his face, "what…"?  
"We were ambushed", Hope said, "by two more natives".  
"Is she ok"? Snow asked.  
"Should be", Hope answered, "she's just unconscious, she was hit in the back of the head".  
"And you"? Snow asked looking worried, "you ok"?  
"I'm fine", he responded, "Light was on point, they… they got her before they knew I was there".  
"Oh… how did you get away"? Snow said, puzzled.  
"I carried Light back here", Hope said frowning.  
"Yeah, but you couldn't have moved fast enough to get away from them if you were carrying Light, could you", Snow said, matter-of-factly.  
"They couldn't chase me", Hope said, then huffed, "they're dead".  
"Oh…", Snow said again, "sorry".  
Hope sighed before replying, "It's fine".

Just then there was a groan and Hope looked down to see Lightning stirring. He didn't know what to do, he just got on his knees waiting for her to open her eyes. She began to move, her right hand moving to her temple, "Hope", she mumbled, her eyes fluttering.  
"what do you know, you're not the only one who mumbles in their sleep", Snow said to Hope before yelping slightly as he was smacked in the back of the head by Sazh who shook his head.  
"Light", Hope answered. Lightning opened her eyes to look at him for a moment before closing them again and bringing her other hand to her temple, and groaning painfully. Catching on, Hope raised a hand and hovered it over her forehead releasing another healing spell.  
Lightning relaxed as the spell wash over her, her hands dropped back to her sides and she raised herself into a half sitting position. "What happened"? She asked.  
"w-we were ambushed… I'm sorry, I wasn't fast enough", he said, hanging his head.  
Lightning looked up at him, "it's ok, you're not hurt are you"? She said.  
He shook his head, then he stood and extended his hand toward her, she took it and he helped her up. She patted her jacket down and gave a slight exclamation, "my knife", she said reaching a hand into her pocket, "it's gone".  
"Oh right", Hope reached for his own pockets, he pulled out Lightning's knife and handed it to her, "I-I uh borrowed it", he said, looking at his feet in an attempt to hide his quickly reddening face, "s-sorry, I couldn't ask".  
"It's fine, I just thought I lost it is all", she said taking it from him.

It was then that Sazh and Snow decided to reinsert themselves into the situation. "Ok, now that you're back up we can talk about why Fang and Vanille aren't back yet", said Snow.  
"What, they're not back yet"? Lightning asked.  
"No sign of them out here", Sazh said from the doorway.  
"And they definitely should be back by now", Snow said seriously.  
"We need to go and look for them", Hope said, "They probably ran into more natives, like me and Light".  
"Uh huh", Sazh said, "we should go in two's, we'll cover more ground".  
"Two's", Hope said, looking worried, "shouldn't we stick together, what if what happened to Light happens again".  
"It'll be ok, we know they're here now, we'll be prepared", Sazh said reassuringly.  
"Ok then, you go with Sazh", Snow said, patting Hope on the back, jarring him, "come on sis'".  
Lightning turned and gave Hope a small smile which he returned nervously.

Sazh led the way out and they set out in the opposite direction from Lightning and Snow. After a while of walking Hope's thoughts wondered back to the two natives he had killed. He felt sickened by the rather gruesome memory of their deaths, but he did not feel particularly bad about killing them, _they deserved it for hurting Light, _he thought, reassuring himself. Part of his thoughts must have shown on his face because Sazh spoke up, "something bothering ya' Hope", he said, keeping his pistol steady.  
"Oh, uh, well…", Hope stuttered, "actually, can I, ask you something"?  
"Shoot", Sazh said.  
"Well, y-you were married right"? He asked nervously.  
"Yeah", Sazh sighed, "but if you're asking what happened, I'd rather not talk about it".  
"No, no, that's ok", Hope said, "I was just wondering w-when you first realised that, y-you know… you loved her".  
His question clearly took Sazh off guard, "uh, th-that's kind off a tough question, you know", he said pulling his gaze forward again, "we were… friends for a while, we did everything together, then one day she asked me how I felt about her and I told her she was the best friend I'd ever had, she said the same but wondered if it could be more, I said I'm not opposed to it, and we started dating. I don't know if you'd call it love but we were happy, we enjoyed each other's company and we always looked out for each other", while telling his story Sazh started to reveal a sentimental smile on his face.  
Hope took every word into council, hoping that it would help him, it was a heart-warming story. "Thanks for sharing that", He realised it must have been hard to drag up those memories again.  
"So, what use is my knowledge and experience being put to"? Sazh asked smirking.  
Hope blushed red at the question, "just, trying to figure some things out is all".  
Sazh chuckled, "yeah I figured that, but I was more referring to who", it wasn't a question but the situation demanded an answer and Sazh was clearly looking for a sort of payment for his advice.  
"Uh, well… it's for… I need to…", Hope stuttered, blushing more than ever, "I-I want to… I th-think I might".  
"Name"? Sazh asked clearly but gently.  
"L-Light", Hope said with a somewhat defeated tone.  
Sazh paused for a moment then continued, sighing as he did so, "I should have guessed as much", he said, his tone almost apologetic, "listen Hope, I…", he began, but paused considering his words, "I don't want to be mean about this but… just make sure you think it through if you decide to say anything, Lightning's not one to let her emotions roam, and not only that, there's a big age difference too, even if she might feel the same way doesn't mean she will let anything happen".  
Hope's heart sank at his words. He had known all along the likeliness of them being together was extremely slim but it still hurt to hear it said aloud.

**Lightning's POV**

Lightning slinked along with her Gunblade ready in sword form keeping its tip low to the ground and ready to slash up at a moment's notice. Snow strutted along with a relaxed posture that Lightning found extremely irritating, and was humming a tune that was strangely familiar but she couldn't quite place it. Lightning gulped down her irritation and decided to just go ahead and ask her questions, "hey Snow".  
"Hmm, yeah", he responded.  
Lightning hesitated before continuing, "Have you… had any weird dreams lately"?  
Snow chuckled giving Lightning a sense of foreboding, "heard about Hope's fall did you"?  
"Huh", his response surprised her.  
"You know, Hope's bad dream", he said looking questioningly at her.  
"Yeah, something like that", she said.  
"Hmm, well anyway, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about", he said nonchalantly, "it's like Sazh said we have had some freaky dreams", his face dropped into a sad almost pained expression. "I-uh had one the other day… about Serah, you guys all died, then it was just me and her and then…", he gulped, Lightning was surprised to see Snow in such a state, "Barthandelus… took her", he finished. Snow's dream's eerie similarity with her own surprised her.

She was about to continue but was cut off as a figure darted out from behind the corner, as the person closed the distance Lightning slashed upwards spinning as she did so, the person's body fell back from the hit and as he collected himself (for it was a he) two more native looking figures emerged from a nearby building standing either side of the first, who showed no interest in his injury and raised his pike in an offensive stance, the other two likewise drew their own weapons and faced both her and Snow, who were both ready for battle.

**Ok, so for any who are wondering I was listening to Serah's theme song while writing the part with Snow humming so that was the tune **

**Also for those who are wondering the curse will get a full explanation either next chapter or the one after, so be patient.**

**Disclaimer: I got nothing witty to say this time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again it feels good to post, did have a bit of trouble but nothing too bad **** hope you will enjoy this chapter and yeah… dammit I always run out of things to say.**

**Disclaimer: do not own **

Chapter Six: Into The Tunnels

Lightning dispatched the last of her and Snows opponents with a slash along her targets throat. The man fell in a heap on the floor. Lightning looked over to Snow, seeing he was uninjured she knelt down to inspect the corpse of the native she had slain. They both searched the natives finding nothing unusual except the same marking similar to their L'Cie marks. "That can't be a coincidence", said Snow.  
He stood and made to walk away but hesitated. "What's the matter", asked Lightning.  
"Is that…", he reached down and picked up the native's weapon: a halberd, and pulled a piece of blue fabric from one of the grooves in the blade.  
Lightning inspected it and soon recognized it, "Fang's sari".  
Suddenly a familiar sounding gunshot rang out in the distance. "Sazh", Snow said.  
"Hope", Lightning added.

They ran towards the source hearing more gunshots, but after a while there was silence. Lightning and Snow slowed their pace and began to search more thoroughly. It took a few minutes to find Sazh and Hope, they were searching the body of another native and didn't notice their approach. When they did Sazh immediately raised his pistols and Hope cast protect on the both of them, "it's ok, it's just us", Snow said.  
They both relaxed, looking relived. "Are you ok"? Lightning asked aiming the question at Hope.  
"Yeah, we're fine", he said.  
"Yeah, but I pretty sure we were right about the others running into natives", Sazh said, and held up a light pink hair tie that Lightning recognized as Vanille's.  
"We found this", Snow said holding up the torn piece of Fang's sari.  
"So what do we do"? Sazh asked, "We didn't find them, so there are probably more natives around who are holding them captive".  
"True but how do we find them"? Hope said.  
"Over here", said Lightning from a few meters off.  
They walked over to her and asked what she saw, "footprints", she answered, pointing. She crouched down and pointed further up, "they came from this direction".  
"Nice one Light", Hope said. Lightning smiled slightly at Hope's compliment.

They followed the tracks back through the town until they arrived at a massive archway built into the side of the cliff, it was at least twenty feet tall and around twelve feet wide. "This is the entryway to the second part of the town", Sazh said, "the one I told you about last night".  
"Right", Lightning said looking back at the remaining group, "keep close, and stay alert", Hope and Snow nodded.

They only had to follow the trail for a short while before arriving at was apparently their destination, but what amounted to a gapping chasm in the ground, It looked like it had been blown outwards from underneath and slightly destroyed stairs could be seen within. "Well, there's something you don't see every day", Snow said, looking curiously down the entrance.  
"We… have to go down there, don't we"? Sazh said, eyeing the hole as if it was something unpleasant.  
"The tracks lead down these stairs but I can see other tracks coming and going from this entrance", Lightning said in a no nonsense tone, "whoever or whatever is in charge of these natives are probably down there". Sazh's displeased looked deepened into a grimace that Lightning ignored.  
"I'll take point", Hope said stepping forward. Lightning was about to reach out and stop him but held herself back, _there's no reason he can't take point, I'm just used to taking point is all, _still the nagging desire to take point herself remained. Hope walked up to the entrance, took a few tentative steps on the crumbling first steps then raised his hands and conjured a small fire witch he sustained in his hands, with this lighting the way he advanced, Snow followed right after him. Sazh turned to Lightning once more before they both proceeded toward the entrance.

After what seemed like a couple of hours the tunnel finally opened into a great cave, Lightning could see a few passages leading off. "Which way'd they go"? Snow asked.  
Lightning rolled her eyes, "there are way too many tracks to decipher here, we'll have to search the place". She walked up to the closest pathway and scratched a mark onto the corner with her Gunblade.

They followed the passage for another few minutes before coming to a room similar to the first, except this one was smaller and filled with tables covered with odd tools and instruments, along with papers containing even stranger drawings and notes in some strange language. Just as Lightning was about to investigate these materials she heard footsteps coming from another passageway, signaling to the rest of them she ducked down behind one of the tables and watched the tunnel for signs of movement. After a moment another native emerged from the darkness just as he tripped and landed with a clatter as he dropped his odd looking weapon. Lightning took the opportunity and rose from her position aiming her Gunblade at the native. He rose to one knee before noticing her and immediately tensed up, he looked terrified. "Who are you"? Lightning asked.  
Oddly slight relief flashed across the natives face, "y-you're not an Empty One"? He said.  
"Who are you"? Sazh repeated also keeping his guns on the native.  
"Please we don't have time, they're coming", the native said pleadingly.  
"Who's coming"? Hope asked curiously.  
Just as he said this more footsteps could be heard coming from the passageway, the native jumped up and tried to run away but was stopped in his tracks by an intimidating looking Snow. "Please we have to move there's too many".  
Lightning turned back to the passage to see a large group of natives running strait at them, as more and more emerged it became clear they could not fight all of them, "run, get out of here", she shouted as she and Sazh fired of several shots and moved toward the tunnel they had come from. Hope threw a powerful Areoga spell at the group knocking the front line off their feet and causing others to trip. They all ran back through the tunnel into the first room they had entered, Snow dragging along the native, and made for the stairs that had led them here.

They began running up the stairs and after ten minutes Lightning could tell the others were wearing down, "Snow we have to slow them down", she called.  
"Ok, I think I have an idea", he said stopping and letting her pass, he gave Lightning hold of the native's scruff and faced back down the stairs. Lightning proceeded another few steps and handed the native to Sazh before looking back at Snow. The man raised his clenched fist and his brand started glowing, he pulled his arm back and shouted, "Quake", as he slammed his fist into the ground. The walls shook and dust fell from the roof, Lightning turned and continued up the stairs. She ran for another two minutes before seeing the exit, she put on an extra burst of speed as the dust started to engulf her. She covered her face and after another moment she came out the tunnel, she looked up to see Sazh still holding the native and Hope watching her with concern.  
Snow emerged behind her as she began dusting herself off, he coughed and waved the dust away from his face. "Well they are not getting through that in a hurry", he said, looking impressed with himself.  
"We can still get back through though, can't we"? Hope said worriedly, "Fang and Vanille could still be down there".  
Snow looked at the entrance then back at Hope, "yeah we should be able to, we have magic I don't think they do".  
"They don't", said a voice. Everyone turned towards the source and found it was the native. Lightning now having the opportunity examined the native boy, who seemed to be about Vanille's age, had medium length brown hair, wore dark blue baggy pants, a similar colored v-cut shirt and a leather bracer on his left arm.  
"So what's your story"? Sazh asked.  
Taking a different approach Lightning stepped forward, "you had better start explaining why everyone we've met it this village attacks us, and why you're the first one to talk to us".  
Lightning could tell her threatening posture had gotten across because Sazh looked a little nervous even though he wasn't even the target. The native paled a little, "whoa, whoa, I-it's ok, I'll explain everything", he said raising his hands defensively, "but, it's kind of a long story".  
Lightning thought for a moment then conceded, "fine, we'll set up camp, Snow grab some scrap wood to start a fire, Hope get me that rope, we found", she turned and grabbed the native's arm and dragged him from Sazh's grasp, "arms up, legs apart", she ordered, the native looked uneasy but complied. Lightning checked all of his pockets, sleeves and other possible hiding places. Finding nothing she turned to Hope who had retrieved the rope as she had asked, and bound the native's hands.

After a few minutes Snow returned and lit a fire with a quick spell, they all sat and turned to the native who also sat. he took a deep shaky breath before starting, "a while back, probably about a year ago now, this place was known as the village of Yellecra, it was one of the biggest remaining villages left on this side of Pulse, but then one day we discovered a tunnel leading underground", he nodded toward the tunnel entrance they had come from, "an exploratory group was sent down but when they came out they were different, they didn't say anything, didn't show any kind of emotion they grabbed a bunch of people and dragged them back down the tunnel", he paused for a moment, sighing, "the village elders decided to send a group of warriors down to see what was going on… I was one of those warriors, we went down the tunnel and found the rooms a passages just like you did, they were deserted and we began looking around when we came across him… it was a Fal'Cie who introduced himself as Tretunes. You, ah, might not know the legend but it's said that centuries back, not long after The War of Transgression, Tretunes enthralled humans in a way that they were far more obedient than normal L'Cie, they were called the Empty Ones, because it was like they didn't have a mind of their own. After a few years a group of L'Cie sent by another, unknown Fal'Cie, sealed Tretunes underground, but the location was lost when the L'Cie turned to crystal", He looked around to see if they were keeping up. "Anyway he enthralled us all and after that it's difficult to remember much, what I can remember is slaving away serving Tretunes but nothing notable, by the looks of things he managed to enthrall the rest of the village as well", he finished and stayed silent for a moment before Lightning spoke, "so how did you escape"?  
"Well, from what I can tell Tretunes tried to do something that either took more power than he was expecting, or didn't work at all, though I don't know what".  
There was a moment of silence before Sazh said, "Our friends are down there, could it have been their enthrallment that caused his lapse in power"?  
The native looked thoughtful for a moment before responding, "I don't see why unless… your friends… were L'Cie".  
"They are, same as us", Lightning said, quickly.  
"That's it then, Tretunes can't enthrall someone who is already a L'Cie", the native looked relieved and conflicted, "were you… is your focus to free us, or defeat Tretunes"? He asked, hopefully.  
"No, but we will", Snow said, "We're not leaving our friends behind". The rest of them nodded in agreement.  
The native looked at them disbelievingly, and then his disbelief changed to determination, "then please, let me help you".  
Lightning looked questioningly at the native, "but if you do Tretunes will just enthrall you again".  
"True", he said slowly, "but I could distract the Empty Ones, that way you have a much better chance of beating him".  
Sazh looked questioningly at the rest of them. Lightning nodded, they needed his help, they would need at least three of them to take down a Fal'Cie, and one of them wouldn't be able to cause a big enough distraction to draw all of these Empty Ones. Snow added his nod of approval, and Sazh turned back to the native, "alright you can help me with the distraction", he said, "and I suppose while we're at it we'll untie you". Sazh moved to the native and untied his hands.  
"Thanks", he said.  
"I've still got one question", Snow said, "what's your name"?  
"Huh".  
"You never told us your name", Snow said.  
"Oh it's…

**Ok I know this is a weird ending to a chapter but I wanted to see if anyone can guess the natives name so I will continue right from this point next chapter, seeya then ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone here's yet another chapter that I am ironically enough posting on my birthday, happy birthday to me **** anyway, I again hope you enjoy this chapter and encourage you to leave a review if you have anything to say about the fic, so here goes…**

**BTW to ****guy eating apple in response to your review I'd like you to go to this page ** /products-page/f7u12-decals/wtf-seriously-are-you- kidding-me-guy-decal-black-vinyl-4-x-3-73/

**Also there is a term used in this chapter: S.D. it means Storage Deck and is an item in the game Borderlands that is small but able to carry a large amount of items**

Chapter Seven: Battle with Tretunes

"I've still got one question", Snow said, "what's your name"?  
"Huh".  
"You never told us your name", Snow said.  
"Oh it's Noel, Noel Kreiss".

They decided to get another nights rest before taking on this new Fal'Cie, Lightning grudgingly let Hope take first watch and he was to wake her when it was her turn. They prepared everything they would need for the battle and Noel had explained the route to Tretunes chamber to Lightning so she could get there.

**Hope's POV**

Hope sat watching the tunnel entrance, he seemed focused but his mind was in chaos, _should I tell her? No that's stupid, there's no point, she won't return my feelings and it would make every interaction awkward, she shouldn't have to deal with that. But it's just hard being around her… the way she is… so confident and powerful, yet gentle and kindhearted. Her beautiful face, and sweet smelling hair, it was almost intoxicating when I was carrying her before…_

His thoughts continued to drift around the perfect angel he had fallen for, after a while though he snapped back to reality and realized several hours had past, _I can't believe I was there for that long._ It was probably about time for him to wake Light up to take watch. He sighed and stood turning to peer back to where Light was resting, he walked over to her and knelt down next to her but paused. She was lying slightly on her side, her soft pink hair hanging over and framing her face perfectly, her face was relaxed and she even had a slight smile on her lips. He pulled back his outstretched hand, _dammit, _he thought. He didn't have the heart to wake her from her rest. He sighed once again and returned to his seat closer to the entrance of the tunnel. _I'm such an idiot, she'll probably be mad that I didn't wake her._

He sat mentally scorning himself for being so weak, but eventually he began to feel affected by his own tiredness, he was fighting of sleep when he heard a noise behind him which made him jump, he turned quickly only to see Lightning standing there with a concerned and slightly annoyed look on her face, "Hope, you were supposed to wake me an hour ago", she said, frowning as well.  
"Oh, sorry I…" he paused realizing he didn't really have an acceptable excuse.  
"You what"? She asked.  
"I thought you should get more sleep", he said rubbing the back of his head, "you know because we have a big fight tomorrow".  
"You'll be there too won't you"? She said raising an eyebrow.  
"W-well yeah, but using magic doesn't take nearly as much energy as using a Gunblade", he said.  
She moved to sit down and gestured for him to sit next to her, which he did. He became tiered again now that the surprise of her presence had worn off. "Hope… you don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine".  
"Yeah I know Light", he said, "but I can't help it… you've become too important to me", his tiredness was making him say things he usually wouldn't.  
Lightning seemed to tense slightly, "Hope… what do you mean by that"? She asked, not angrily like he had expected but actually curious.  
"Well, you've done so much for me and promised to protect me", he answered, "but it's more than just that, I feel…" he tried to continue but there was a second movement from behind him and they both turned to see Snow rising.  
He looked over to them with tiered eyes, "don't mind me, just got'a take a wiz", he said and walked off into the darkness.  
Hope stood as if realizing what he had been about to say, "I-I should get some sleep", he said and ran over to grab a sleeping bag and then laying down in it. _I'm such an idiot, I can't believe I almost told her, what if she guessed what I was about to say, _he mentally groaned. _No I don't think she did, whatever her reaction might be to my feelings I'm sure it would be a lot worse than that._ Hope's tiredness did eventually take over, releasing a series of unpleasant, but unfortunately not unrealistic dreams involving Lightning rejecting him.

Hope's dreams came to a shaky halt, literally as he was being similarly woken by a very blunt Snow. "hey come on, just cause I promised to look after ya' doesn't mean I'll let ya' sleep all day", he said as Hope finally opened his eyes blinking away the blurriness of sleep,  
"I'm up", he said, getting shakily to his feet so Snow would stop shaking him.  
"Good, we're gunna re-open the tunnel soon, so get ready", he said before walking off.  
Hope looked around, everybody else was already up and preparing. He groaned, stretching his limbs, _its nobody's fault but my own, I should've just woken her when I was supposed to_, the image of Lightning's peaceful sleeping form flashed though his mind, making his heart skip a beat. He shrugged it off and ran a hand though his hair, he sighed and walked over to the supplies. He opened the S.D. and retrieved a bottle of water and took a generous swig, he then poured some into his hand and splashed his face. He shook his head, sending droplets of water left and right, he wiped his face on his gloves and replaced the bottle.

After another few minutes of getting ready they all gathered together at the entrance to the tunnel. Lightning stood in front of them and began reviewing the plan, Sazh and Noel would run through tunnels attempting to lead as much of the enthralled natives away from Tretunes' chamber, they wouldn't fight them unless necessary though, they were trying to free these people not kill them. Lightning had memorized the rout to Tretunes' chamber and would head there with Snow and him, together they should be able to beat him, and the curse of enthrallment on the natives would be released, removing Sazh and Noel from danger. Once this was done Sazh and Noel should find anyone left who could lead the villagers in re-establishing their city. They would meet back later once everyone was above ground.

Once everything had been explain they turned their attention back to the tunnel entrance and slowly began their decent once again, after only a minute they encountered a wall of rubble. Hope stepped forward and took a deep breath, he raised a hand, his L'Cie brand glowing as he focused on his memories, memories of his mother and of Light. His body filled with the memories of the ones he loved and he felt the feeling surge through his body as he released the spell, "Quake", he said. There was a low rumble before the debris was blown apart sending clouds of dust through the tunnel. Everyone covered their faces as their vision was blocked, someone threw a light Areo spell clearing away the dust. Hope looked up to see his work and was pleased to find a lot of rubble had been cleared away.

**Sazh's POV**

They proceeded further down, after a few minutes encountering another wall of rubble, Snow repeated the process allowing them to go further down. Once they saw the opening to the first chamber Sazh and Noel walked ahead to find a small group of natives walking through, Sazh fired a shot near them getting their attention, then he and Noel ran to the left tunnel and ran through it. Once they entered the first room Noel retrieved his weapon that was still lying on the ground and they ran deeper into the tunnels creating as much noise as they could.

**Lightning's POV**

After hearing several shots fired and waiting a moment Lightning, Hope and Snow proceeded further down into the first room, finding it empty Lightning moved toward the right tunnel whispering, "Come on". They walked through several tunnels and rooms containing more strange instruments and notes, after a few minutes they came to a halt inside a large dimly lit, high ceilinged room with several pillars aligned to create a pathway. At the end of the pathway was a long table filled with a tools, vials and papers, standing at the table was a figure in a long black lab coat, long white hair trailed down his back that was turned to them as he appeared to be writing something down.  
Once they began to approach he spoke, "you're the ones who disrupted my workers", he stated in a rather suave voice, "Please hold on for a moment". Snow shot her a bewildered look, and then they continued towards him.  
he suddenly whipped around, his coat whirling through the air as he did so, Hope and Snow moved to an offensive stance as Lightning did the same, the man had a young face and strong features, he gave a short laugh, "a little jumpy, are we"? Lightning scowled but remained silent. "So why are you here? A grudge? My notes? A focus perhaps?"  
"We're here to free these people you've enslaved", Lightning said fiercely.  
"And to get our friends back", Hope added.  
"ha, such chivalry is admirable", he said, looking amused, "but I have no intention of releasing my workers, and your friends, with their L'Cie status will prove extremely valuable to my research so I'll be keeping them as well. I'm a very strait forward person so let's just get this over with", Tretunes said, shrugging the coat off of his shoulders revealing what appeared to be a battle raiment.

Lightning, Snow and Hope all began circling into different positions so they could attack Tretunes from multiple sides. Hope was preparing Synergist spells when Tretunes made his first move, he fired a Blizzard spell at Hope, but Snow jumped in front of him blocking the spell. He then quickly turned to Lightning and fired several spells at her, she rolled away, dodging them, then switched her weapon to gun form and fired a few shots, however they were blocked by a protect spell that the Fal'Cie quickly threw up. Snow then ran straight at him and punched, he hit the protect spell shattering it. Tretunes turned and threw his own punch and sent Snow flying back, Snow stood back up and was surrounded by a protect spell along with herself and Hope. Lightning ran forward flipping her Gunblade out for close combat and took several swings at the Fal'Cie, he dodged her blade with inhuman speed but as he was doing so he was suddenly hit in the back with several Fire spells, he growled and let off an Aerora spell sending both him and Lightning back. Tretunes landed on his feet but Lightning hit one of the pillars, she landed on her hands and knees keeping hold of her gunblade, Snow charge forth and swung several Blizzard infused punches at Tretunes while Hope sent a healing spell over to her, she rose and stepped back into the fight…

**Sazh's POV**

Sazh panted as he ran into yet another room, at this point he had no idea where they were going his main priority was keeping away from the majority of the natives. He lent against the wall trying to get a moments rest, "I'm getting too old for this crap", he moaned.  
Noel, who was also panting, looked up at him, "I don't think being young, helped much there, they came out of nowhere".  
"He he, still", he sighed and continued to a promising looking passageway, "come on", he called. Noel picked himself up and followed.

**Lightning's POV**

The fight went on for a while, Tretunes used his unnatural speed to dodge Lightning and Snow's physical attacks while his defensive magic blocked all their ravager spells. After a while though Lightning could tell the Fal'Cie was weakening, they managed to land a few hits, and some of Hope's spells were punching through his shields. Tretunes apparently sensed it too because he was becoming more reckless, and enraged. He suddenly shouted in triumph as a magically augmented fist struck Snow in the chest sending him against the wall and he fell to the ground groaning. Lightning took the opportunity and charged at Tretunes, connecting with a deep gash across right side, he yelled in pain and fury and threw a powerful Watera spell at her, Lightning did the only thing she could, she attempted to block the spell with her Gunblade, it worked to a point, but disarmed her. She could see Tretunes preparing another spell to finish her off, but before he could release his spell he was blasted up into the air by an Aeroga spell, he struck the roof and plummeted back down to the ground lying still. Lightning rose and saw Hope panting from the effort of the fight, they both moved toward Snow and knelt down to him.  
"Snow… you ok"? Hope asked.  
Snow groaned, "Oooowww".  
Hope began healing him, Lightning smirked and looked up and saw in slow motion as Tretunes raised himself to one knee holding a powerful spell in both hands, he was looking to her right, at Hope. Her Gunblade was still lying on the ground where it fell. It was then she acted without thinking, she reached for her magic but instead of anger she felt a mix of emotions, fear for Hope, anger at Tretunes and something she couldn't identify, and also exhilaration from the rush she felt as the power surged through her and she threw her hand out and electricity erupted from her hands in a devastating Thundaga.

Tretunes screamed as the blast of power hit him dead in the chest, Lightning had to be sure so she ran and dived for her Gunblade, then switching it to gun form she fired two shots, also hitting the Fal'Cie in the chest, and he fell to the ground in a twitching smoking heap.

**Okay so that's all for this chapter, my school holidays start next week so I might be able to get the next two or three chapters out quicker **** I'll see ya' then.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey there got a nice early chapter for you guys. The usual, you know: disclaimer, leave a review etc.**

Chapter Eight: Setting out

Lightning stared at her hand with a surprised expression, how had she done that, she wondered. That's the most powerful magic I've ever used. Just then Hope ran over to her with a worried expression, "Light, are you alright"? He asked. Lightning put her hand down to look at Hope,  
"I'm fine", she said quietly, she would have to think about this later, "We need to get moving".  
"Yeah, ok", said Hope, jogging back over to Snow, who was getting to his feet, "hey, you ok to walk"?  
"Yeah, should be fine", he grunted, "let's go".

**Sazh's POV**

Sazh ran with Noel through several passageways with a large group of natives right behind them, they came to a T-section and he tried to turn right only to see another group of natives coming from that direction. He turned back and tried to go left to find that direction blocked as well, "shit", he cursed, they were backed into a wall with no place to go. As the groups merged and began advancing on them one collapsed to the ground, the other natives glanced at him then turned back to Sazh and Noel. But before they could continue to advance, three more dropped to the ground as if knocked unconscious, followed by several more until all of the natives were lying sprawled on the ground. Sazh looked questioningly at Noel, "did they do it"? He asked.  
Noel shrugged, "I guess so", he chuckled. They walked over to one of the natives and rolled him over, Sazh checked his breathing, he was alive.  
Sazh took hold of his shoulders and shook him, the native groaned and opened his eyes looking around in confusion, "what happened"? He asked.  
"What's the last thing you remember"? Noel asked.  
"Uh, I… can't really tell, we uh… found a tunnel and then there was…", the natives eyes widened, "Tretunes". He looked at them intently, "how long ago did we find Tretunes under the city"? The man asked.  
_He probably thinks he has amnesia_, Sazh thought. "About a year ago, he enthralled the entire town", Noel said.  
"The entire town"? The native asked disbelievingly.  
Noel nodded, "come on let's try and get everybody out of here".

For the next hour and a half they worked on trying to wake, calm and organize the natives. Most of the natives help them in this task but others needed calming as they wanted to run and look for their families, most of them could be assured that they would be able to find their families once everybody was above ground. Once everybody they could find had been woken they all began moving back through the tunnels and after another twenty minutes they began emerging onto the surface. Once Noel was out of the tunnels he began watching the crowd of people, his eyes running over people's faces until a flash of recognition came across his face. Sazh watched as he ran into the crowd and embraced someone, he watched them talk for a moment before they began walking back over to him.  
Noel was showing the first true happiness Sazh had seen him show as he walked over to him, hand in hand with this girl, "Sazh, I'd like to introduce you to someone", he said as he approached, " this is Yuel, my fiancé, Yuel this is Sazh Katzroy, one of the L'Cie who helped free us".  
The girl named Yuel blushed deeply and gave a quiet, "pleased to meet you".  
"Yeah, likewise", Sazh grinned, "Noel, you never said you were engaged".  
Noel chuckled nervously, "yeah, It didn't seem important enough to mention at the time", he said rubbing the back of his neck.  
"You didn't think I was important enough to mention"? Yuel pouted.  
Noel paled slightly before stuttering, "n-no it's just… we were… I was trying…", Yuel giggled at his response and Sazh chuckled, he could tell Yuel was shy but playful and Noel appeared to be used to her teasing because he was already back to normal.

They chatted for another few minutes as the natives gathered into groups that seemed to know each other, Sazh then spotted the others emerging from the tunnels as well and went to get them. As he, Noel and Yuel walked over he waved to them and they moved toward them.  
"Noel we need to find someone who can take charge and organize things", Lightning said.  
"Huh… oh, r-right", he responded, "come on let's look around". Noel and Lightning walked off to find someone who could be in charge, Yuel followed closely behind Noel, and Hope did the same with Lightning. Sazh smirked amusedly, he looked towards Snow and noticed the younger man was favoring his left side, "you ok"? He asked, gesturing to his right leg.  
"Yeah, I'll be fine", he said, "got knocked pretty hard back there is all". Fang and Vanille then began teasing Snow, but Sazh was more watching Hope follow Lightning, _poor kid's just gunna get himself hurt._

**Lightning's POV**

Over the next few hours the group of L'Cie as well as Noel, worked in finding the village leaders, restore order and begin slight repairs to the village, they would wait until essential parts of town life were restored then excavate and see what they could learn from Tretunes work. The village leaders thanked the L'Cie for their help and offered them a place in the village, they agreed to stay for a day or two.

Lightning, now lying down in a bed that had been provided for her was perturbed by questions. _How was I able to do that, it didn't even exhaust me like it usually does. The only difference was there was actual danger, was it just the need of the moment, or was it…_ Lightning rolled over feeling uncomfortable. _That feeling, what was it? Fear for Hope's life and anger at Tretunes would be expected but there was something else as well._ She called the memory of the feeling and thought about it, _it… makes me think of Serah for some reason, why is that? The situation had nothing to do with Serah…_ she sighed, this wasn't helping, it wasn't important she needed to concentrate on surviving, on keeping her friends alive and herself so she could see Serah again when she woke from crystal. She had to believe she would awake soon…

Difficult and broken sleep was all that came to her, despite the exhausting day, and the more she sat and couldn't sleep the more frustrated she would get, which only served to make her tenser. Finally she gave up and jumped out of bed she walked to the door and deftly opened it. She looked out into the hall of the building she was in, on the right was the stairs that led down to the ground floor, but as she looked left she noticed something she hadn't before, a ladder that looked as if it led to the roof. Curious she walked over to it and climbed it. She was right, she came out on the roof. Lightning looked up at the stars, this was as good a place as any to get fresh air, as had been her plan. As she stood she heard a small voice behind her, "Light, is that you"?  
She turned to see Hope sitting on the ground with a curious expression on his face. "Oh, it's you Hope", she said, "I couldn't sleep, I wanted some fresh air".  
Hope smiled brightly, "me too", he said looking back up at the stars.  
Lightning hesitated for a moment before sitting next to him, leaning back against the small wall on the edge of the roof. They began talking, not about anything specific just… talking, about their friends, about the village, about Serah and Nora and Bartholomew. After a while silence dominated the sound of the night and Lightning felt herself drifting off, just talking with Hope had relaxed her and removed the tension she felt until she fell into a comfortable sleep…

**Hope's POV**

Hope enjoyed just sitting there talking to Lightning even if after a while their conversation slipped into silence, it was a comfortable silence. After a few minutes he felt a pressure against his shoulder, he looked down to see Lightning leaning on his side, "Light"? He said quietly, her position slipped and now Hope could see she had fallen asleep. He blushed but smiled, he was glad she had been able to get to sleep despite the now increased pace of his heart. He looked back at the stars, enjoying Lightning's presence and soon he too drifted off to sleep.

Hope's eyes opened early next morning, well relatively early so far as he could tell from the cloud covered morning light. The first thing he noticed was the lack of warmth on his left side and he looked to see Lightning was gone. He frowned and rubbed his arm, he already missed her presence. He shrugged it off and stood, moving towards the trapdoor that led inside counting his blessings that it hadn't started to rain while he slept. He climbed down the ladder and walked down the hall and then down the stairs. The building the village elders provided them was one that had been recently built when the underground caverns had been discovered. He walked into the kitchen and saw Fang eating cereal, he frowned, "where'd you get that"? He asked.  
She pointed toward a box sitting on the bench. He peered inside and saw different kinds of food inside, "someone dropped it off earlier", Fang said.  
Hope pulled out some bread and other ingredients and began making himself a sandwich, once he was done he sat down across from Fang and began eating. After a minute Fang looked up at him, "I never got to thank you guys for comin' after us", she said.  
Hope looked up surprised, "it was nothing, you guys would have done the same for us".  
"never-the-less you did it", she said standing and walking over to him, "so thank you", she leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of his head. Hope stiffened, his heart didn't shoot out of his chest like it would have if Lightning had gotten that close, but it still made him blush with embarrassment. Fang took one look at his flustered expression and burst out laughing. Hope scowled at his friend's antics even as she continued to laugh all the way up the stairs, he sighed and finished his own breakfast.

The rest of the day the L'Cie continued to assist where they could in helping the villagers continue their regular lives. The next day the group decided it was time to leave and made plans accordingly.

The group stood outside the village with Noel, Yuel and a small group of village elders that were thanking them for the up-tenth-time. Hope could tell it was getting to Lightning, with the way she was tapping her foot. Once the elders finally left to return to the village Noel and Yuel bid them one last farewell before they set out. There was silence for a while before Snow spoke up, "so… nothin' there, where to next"? He asked.  
Everyone chuckled, even Lightning smirked as she looked at the map the villagers had given them. She pointed, "A place called the Archylte Steepe", she said, taking the lead. Hope smiled and kept close behind her keeping an eye out for monsters.

**This chapter is short I know… I don't really have a reason why it just is.**

**I'm going to start a sequel to this story so keep an eye out I just wanted to start another one because now the curse is ended I can't really call this A Cursed People so I'll try and make it as easy as possible to find **


End file.
